Known is a method for producing a metallized image on a sheet material, consisting in producing an image by acting to the sheet material through a metal foil sheet with a mold preliminary made and heated up to a certain temperature (cf., the USSR Inventor's Certificate No 1,831,436 A3, IPC B41F 19/06, B42C 13/00).
Being exposed to pressure and temperature, projecting members of the mold provide engagement of foil areas with the sheet material. Upon removal of the spent foil sheet with voids corresponding to mold projections, a metallized image will remain on the sheet material.
This method practically prevailing in printing arts is unacceptable for protecting special production printed on a sheet material, and first of all because any skilled person can reproduce said method at minimum material costs.
Further, to apply personified images by this method, an own mold for each image is necessary which is impracticable.
A printing device realized according to said method comprises a press onto a table thereof a sheet material, a foil, and a mold to be heated are sequentially laid. Upon compression with holding of the sheet material, the mold is removed. The spent foil sheet with voids that correspond to projection of the mold is withdrawn, and the sheet material is taken off, wherein a metallized image covers respective areas of said sheet material.
This prior art device gives no chance to produce an image consisting of a plurality of metallized points each having a size from 20 μm to 80 mμ and being deepened into a body of the sheet material, because manufacture of a mold to comply with this requirement is practically impossible. But exactly this embodiment of the metallized image is able to protect special production printed on the sheet material. Further, this device cannot allow difference of each next metallized image from a previous one without replacement of the mold.